FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT VIETNAM AIRLINES - PAGE 2

HANOI: India and Vietnam today inked seven pacts, including one to enhance cooperation in the strategic oil sector, as they called for "freedom" of navigation in the South China Sea, a remark which could irk China which has been claiming territorial sovereignty over the high seas. The agreements were signed during the second day of the four-day state visit of President Pranab Mukherjee who held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang here. Both the countries decided to "strengthen and deepen bilateral cooperation on the basis of the strategic partnership with focus on political, defence and security cooperation, economic cooperation, science and technology, culture and people-to-people links, technical cooperation and multilateral and regional cooperation.

YANGON: Myanmar is going to introduce e-visa system as a pilot project in February to facilitate foreign travellers' visits and promote tourism in the country. Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, which will introduce online electronic visa system, has started installing internet lines at the information departments of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Immigration and Population, Xinhua reported citing the Yangon Times. The move will facilitate world visitors in those countries where there is no Myanmar embassy . Some airlines arranged visa-on-arrival for visitors from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

CHENNAI: Tata Group is holding negotiations with the government of Vietnam to set up a steel factory there with an investment of $ five billion, an embassy official said. Tata (Group) signed a MoU in 2007 with the government of Hatinh Province in Vietnam to set up a steel factory and currently negotiations are going on between the two, Vietnam Ambassador to India Nguyen Thanh Tan said here. He observed that if the negotiations conclude, "it will be the biggest Indian project in Vietnam".

NEW DELHI: India and Vietnam are likely to meet the bilateral trade target of $7 billion by 2015, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Ranjit Rae said today. "The two-way trade is likely to reach $7 billion by 2015," an Assocham statement quoted Rae as saying at an international exposition being held in Hanoi from April 4-7. Last year, trade between the two countries stood at $4 billion. Rae said there is a need to deepen the strategic relationship between the countries.

MUMBAI: Private carrier Jet Airways today announced the launch of a flight to the Vietnamese commercial centre Ho Chi Minh City from New Delhi via Bangkok from November 5 with an all inclusive economy fare of Rs 37,506. Besides, the airline plans to introduce a third daily direct service in addition to the already operating two flights from its international gateway Mumbai to Bangkok in the coming winter season, Jet Airways said in a release here. The airline also plans to introduce a third daily direct service from Mumbai to Bangkok during the winter season starting October end, it said.

HANOI: David Cameron hailed rapidly growing trade with Vietnam today during the first visit by a British Prime Minister to the communist country, as a number of key business deals were signed. Bilateral trade between the two countries has doubled in the last three years, but it still represents just 0.5 per cent of the UK's total global trade , Cameron said in Hanoi. "That indicated the enormous opportunity that there is... we believe there is much more to come," he said, at a press briefing after talks with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

MUMBAI: The rough weather in the aviation industry in India doesn't seem to have deterred ventures by foreign carriers. Not just Mumbai and Delhi, but Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Amritsar have also attracted more or new flights.Air China recently started a direct Chengdu-Mumbai flight - the first between the country's commercial capital and the Chinese city. While a few others like Qantas and Air Asia may have pulled out of India due to economic unfeasibility , others are planning to spread wings here, a report by the Center of Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA)

NEW DELHI: Expanding its international operations, private carrier Jet Airways today included Ho Chin Minh City in its network with the launch of a daily flight to the Vietnamese commercial capital via Bangkok from here. "Ho Chin Minh City will be our 22nd international destination in our network and this flight, connecting Delhi and Mumbai via Bangkok to the Vietnamese city will not only provide a seamless connectivity to business travellers but also to the religious travellers," said Raj Shivkumar, Chief Commercial officer, Jet Airways.

MUMBAI: The bilateral trade between India and Vietnam is expected to nearly double at over USD 7 billion by 2015, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said on Thursday. "Vietnam today provides huge business opportunities and bilateral trade is expected to cross USD 7 billion by 2015 from the present USD 4 billion," the visiting President said here, while addressing Indo-Vietnam Business Forum meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. The present bilateral trade is ten times what it was in 2000.

HANOI: An Australian low-cost airline and a Canadian luxury resort and casino developer have launched two ambitious projects that aim to revolutionise Vietnam's fast-growing tourism industry. Jetstar, the budget offshoot of Australian carrier Qantas, teamed up with Vietnam's Pacific Airlines to launch Jetstar Pacific on Friday, setting the stage for a dogfight with state-run Vietnam Airlines. The following day Canadian developers broke ground on what they say will become Vietnam's premier destination, a 4.2-billion-dollar resort and casino strip near southern Ho Chi Minh City, due to kick off in late 2010.